9
"I love you and I adore you in that harmony
of sullen night, of sordid shipwreck. "
-meridian of the lover, Efraín Huerta.
This was a time when happiness seemed to flood them and it was a strange feeling, one that they had not had since their parents lived. There was uncertainty, and fear, but in some strange way Violet and Klaus felt that everything had to be solved, that nothing could against them. Several days a week they dined with Justice Strauss, either at the judge's house or in the small apartment, and took long walks with Sunny and Beatrice to museums and parks, or simply wandered around the living room or kitchen, Violet humming happily while Klaus looked at her, trying not to be distracted from the book he was reading.
During dinner, Justice talked to them more about her life and when the girls went to bed, she made tea for Violet and Klaus and told them anything that she had researched and that could help them in the case. For Violet's fortune and despair, Mr. Poe had not shown up at their door again, though every morning she was afraid to wake up to see him take their two little girls away. That feeling was a little muffled by Klaus, when he kissed her neck, or gently combed her hair...
That morning a ray of sunlight came through the window, through the white curtain, and illuminated Klaus' complexion, creating a shadow on his profile. Violet had been awake for several hours, she had woken up in the middle of the night terrified by nightmares, this time feeling trapped again in that wedding dress where all their misfortune had begun.
She felt the weight of her brother's arm hugging her warmly, protectively, and her legs entwined with his, and she distracted herself by watching his lips tremble as they did whenever he slept since he was a baby, and she let her mind free from all thought until the only real thing was his body next to hers.
She did not know how long she stayed there, in happy nonchalance, but suddenly she was aware that he was moving and looking for her, drawing her body to his with a heartbreaking and fierce hug, as if he had feared she was gone overnight. Half asleep, Klaus began to deposit kisses where his sleepy lips passed over Violet's skin, and she sighed in rejoicing.
"Good morning, Klaus."
"I love you," Klaus said, as if he could not stop the words from coming up, and she knew he had woken up completely. She opened her eyes and met her brother's, desolately hopeful eyes. Violet placed a kiss on his lips and crawled over him, careful not to crush him.
She sighed. Violet would go through all hell again, if she was allowed to make love with Klaus and redeem the world every warm morning, love him so atrocious, unsuspected, excessive. She felt him tremble with anticipation and ran her fingers through the buttons of his pajama shirt, pulling them out of the Klaus had had a nightmare that night, he forgot it completely, and the anguished sensation dissipated when Violet whispered that she loved him before dragging his clothes to the floor. He felt her for a moment, warm and bright as the sun, an unsuspected treasure that unfolded before him like the only light, and he could not suppress a low moan when Violet took him and she felt him in the deepest, completely inside her soul.
Violet began to move slowly, electricity again running through them; wide lips parted and soft cheeks, and for Klaus she was the only one, the most beautiful...
He would never stop marveling, he would never take her for granted, because their love was miraculous, and if there was a paradise to which souls go at death, and he had to choose between her or redemption, he would always choose Violet.
She could see the love in his face, the adoration and the happy pleasure, and she was pleased... then she could not think.
Klaus sat up so that he had her sitting on him and he could kiss her, hold her. Violet wrapped her legs around him, squeezing and extracting words, whispers, moans.
He loved this rhythm, loved everything they built together. And he would not feel incomplete again, he would not fall again...
This was not fire, it was a sea of perfect calm, an ancient sea that groped through them. Klaus forgot his name, and the name of things, and he just wanted her to feel. Finally he felt Violet tighten with all her strength and then their love flowed with gentle waves, one after the other.
She stood there a moment longer, trembling, kissing him hard as their breaths returned to their normal rhythm.
Then Violet hugged his neck and hid her face for a second, holding back the sobs and he was still inside her. His sister.
"Here I am, here I am, Vi."
He did not have to ask what was happening, he knew that this was the only moment where she could take out fear, where she could free herself from nightmares and forget, even for a moment.
"I love you, Klaus. You are... you are..." she felt a knot forming in her throat, preventing her from speaking, and she also knew that everything she wanted to say to her brother was beyond the strength of her voice.
They breathed the soft morning, kept their little secret for a moment and then the world regained its rhythm.
"Violet, there's a recipe I want to try," Sunny looked at her and Violet knew that she could never, never say no to something; although, because of Sunny's character, they rarely had to do it. "Can we go to the market?"
She extended the still small hands and Violet carried her to sit on her legs, giving her a kiss on the head.
"What do you need, Sun?" She rarely shortened her name that way, only when she was in a particularly good mood, and Sunny looked suspiciously at her sister, wondering why her siblings were suddenly happy, and she must have seemed hesitant because Violet looked at her worriedly. "What's wrong, Sunny? Everything is alright? Do you have problems with your friends?"
She did not like Violet to worry so much about her, but she thought she understood why, after all they had been through, although many things were buried in her infant memory and most of all she trusted that they had been just like her siblings said.
"No, I'm fine. I need flour for cookies, and chocolate chips."
Klaus leaned out the door.
"Sunny will make cookies?" It was not a secret that they were his favorites.
Violet nodded.
"We need to go to the market for flour, and we no longer have milk or diapers for Bea, are you coming?" She asked out of courtesy, she knew that Klaus did not like being away from them.
"I'll go for Bea, she's still taking her nap."
The lunch hour had just passed and the street was a bit empty, the sky cloudy and gray. The Baudelaires walked to the market in a strange peace, and several times Sunny wanted to say something, but she never found enough strength for her voice to come out.
During the past few weeks something had changed almost imperceptibly, but she felt it and an idea had crept into her mind, though she did not dare tell her brothers for fear of the way they would react. Sunny could trust them, she knew, but she also remembered what her teacher had said when she asked.
Any moment they could enjoy together was a gift, and while Klaus spent a moment in the candy section with Sunny holding his hand, Violet hummed quietly. She looked at what she had in the cart; two milk cans, three packs of diapers, a blanket, a new bottle, the food and Bea sitting holding her new rattle... she sighed, trying to decide what kind of bread to carry; and thought she would not change her life, even with all the pain. She felt so much love, for Klaus, for their little daughters... a smile appeared on her lips.
"I saw, can we take these?" Klaus and Sunny appeared at the end of the hallway, arms full of candy, and Violet's smile widened. Sometimes, like that morning, Violet forgot a little that Klaus sometimes still had the heart of a child.
"Bring that here," she said, "what more do we need?"
Klaus and Sunny deposited all the goodies in the cart.
"Have we already brought Bea's soap? And the bath sponge? "There was the man again, frowning in concentration as he tried to remember what they should buy as well as treats.
He heard his sister gasp and looked at her, baffled for a moment. Violet directed her gaze behind Klaus' shoulders and looked like she was seeing ghosts from the past. Klaus felt his little sister let go of his hand before saying a phrase she had not said for a long time ("Pietrishycamollaviadelrechiotemexity"), and he was afraid to turn around and find Count Olaf again with one of his ridiculous disguises, like that time with Aunt Josephine. It was not until his mind reminded him that he was dead that he mustered enough courage to look where Violet was going.
Isadora Quagmire stared back at them, as astonished as they were. She had changed too much, just like them, and she looked older. She had a cart with some products and had grown in stature. The Baudelaires almost did not recognize her as the young student of Prufrock High School and for her they also seemed unrecognizable, so old...
The Baudelaires could not even decide exactly what they felt, relief, happiness, nostalgia, pain... she walked towards them without saying a word and touched their faces: Violet, Klaus, Sunny... and a baby in the cart. Before speaking, she hugged them tightly and they could see that she was shaking.
"I ... I ...", she tried to say something, but the Baudelaires knew there were no words to say in that situation. This was a long-awaited, desired meeting, an encounter that had been kept in the back of their minds like an eternal fantasy. Find long lost friends.
"Where is Duncan?" Klaus asked.
"Where is Quigley?" Violet asked.
Finally Isadora broke down in tears.
"I thought I would never see you again. Every day, my brothers and I wondered where you could... I'm so happy, "she said, looking somewhat ashamed of her crying.
"We... miss you very much," Klaus said.
"Quagmire," said Sunny, who seemed to have spoken again in a way that she now only used when she wanted to express a lot of affection. And that was her particular way of saying: "although we continue with our lives, not a single day went by that we did not miss you."
"This seems all so unreal," sighed Isadora, smiling through her tears. "Duncan and Quigley are here, wait a moment... there they come. Duncan and Quigley Quagmire, come here at this moment!"
At the end of the corridor, two figures appeared, carrying some products that fell from their hands when they stopped in their tracks and looked at the Baudelaires. Violet let out a laugh and rinsed her own tears and Klaus held her hand an imperceptible second.
"Quagmire!" Sunny repeated, loudly. And the Quagmire brothers smiled.
"It can´t be," Duncan said, even though he knew it was real. "I can´t believe it."
He walked quickly to the Baudelaires and embraced them for a long time, as did his brother.
"We thought we had lost you," Quigley said. "I... I don´t even know what to say."
If they had known the expression, everyone would have used Sunny Baudelaire's remarkable phrase: "Pietrishycamollaviadelrechiotemexity"; the Baudelaires smiled, as did the Quagmires. And Violet could not help thinking that the world was ordering itself again after a long chaos, that things were finally in place, where they belonged.
Their meeting was interrupted by Beatrice's slight moan, wanting to know what was happening. Klaus smiled, took her out of the cart, and the Baudelaires and the Quagmires began with the long explanation of what had happened since the last moment they had seen each other, respectively. The conversation went on and on, even after both families had paid for their products and Sunny suggested inviting them to the apartment for dinner.
"We can go in the van," Isadora suggested, "you don´t have to walk with all this."
"We are very grateful," Violet said, and it was true.
"Don´t worry, that's what friends are for."
They knew that it was true. No matter how much time had passed, they were still friends.
The Quagmires owned a blue van that was driven by Duncan. The talk followed with occasional interruptions from Violet to show the way to her friend and when they finally got home, somehow it seemed to them that the world was getting warmer and quieter.
